Chicken Cordon Blue Sandwiches

I got this recipe from my friend Cami and I think this is probably the yummiest sandwich I've ever had! Yes, it really is that good and super easy to make too. (Again my picture really doesn't do this sandwich justice) Thanks for this awesome recipe Cami!!


Chicken Cordon Blue Sandwiches

sour dough bread, sliced
mayo
shredded chicken* (I use a good ol' Costco rotisserie chicken)
mustard - dijon or spicy
thin sliced ham (my favorite packaged ham is Oscar Meyer thin sliced Virginia ham)
sliced cheese - Swiss or cheddar or jack... what ever you like
a bit of fresh ground pepper

Assembly:
Layer on each slice of bread: mayo, shredded chicken, mustard, ham, cheese, and a little ground pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and broil till cheese melts. You can have the sandwiches open faced or top with another slice of toasted bread (I like 'em open faced).

*When my friend Cami doesn't have a rotisserie chicken to shred she baked chicken breast in her stoneware loaf pans with a pizza stone on top at 350 for about 40 minutes. It makes them nice and moist and ready to shred.

Soft Sugar Cookies

These were very happily received as our FHE treat tonight. We all decorated our own cookies and the kids had tons of fun frosting and sprinkling away. I love this recipe because the cookies turn out so soft and yummy. Make sure to not roll out the cookies too thin, the thicker the better as far as softness.


Soft Sugar Cookies

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
2 3/4 cups flour (+ 1/4 cup for high altitude)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until creamy. Mix in sour cream. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet mixture and blend well. Roll out dough on floured surface (the thicker the cookie, the softer it is) and cut with cookie cutter. Place cookies on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes (don't let them brown). Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes, then remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks. Let cool completely before frosting. Makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on how big your cookie cutter is.

The frosting recipes below are all very nice. I used the fluffy buttercream frosting tonight and it was yum-o!


Classic Sugar Cookie Frosting:

6 tablespoons softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (may need a bit more)
red food coloring (to make the frosting pink)

Beat butter until creamy. Add vanilla and mix in. Gradually add the powdered sugar until frosting is smooth and creamy. Add a few drops of red food coloring and mix till frosting is evenly pink.


Fluffy Buttercream Frosting:

1 lb box powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick butter, softened
red food coloring

Beat with an electric mixer 2 minutes, scraping bowl often. For a thinner consistency add more milk or cream a little at a time. Mix in food coloring till frosting is evenly colored.


Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 - 1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar (enough for desired thickness)
red food coloring

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add milk and vanilla and powdered sugar a little at a time till frosting reaches desired consistency. Add red food coloring and mix until frosting is evenly colored.

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

This is another allrecipes recipe and it turned out so well. I topped the individual bowls of soup with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese and everyone (even the picky 5 year old) had seconds. One thing too, it made the perfect amount for my family (a family of 5 with 1 little little kid) so if you're family is bigger you may want to double it.

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes (for me that was 3 potatoes)
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules (I used Herbox low sodium granulated bouillon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground pepper, to taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon)
5 tablespoons butter
5 level tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
crumbled bacon
shredded cheese

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Stir in chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

In a separate saucepan (or skillet - I like to make my white sauces in skillets for some unknown reason) melt the butter over medium low heat. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Continue stirring for about 4 minutes or until it is thick. Stir this mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until heated through. At this point I mashed up the potato lumps with a potato masher because my kids like smooth soups, but it'd be completely fine as is. Sprinkle individual bowl with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese.

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

I love this recipe. It's from my friend Deborah and well it's just yummy. The original recipe didn't have exact amounts, so today I took the time to measure out just how much chicken broth and milk I put in and I also added a cup of peas. I served it with Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls.

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 a large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced
3 - 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 quart or a 32 oz box of chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken ( I used the good meat from a rotisserie chicken)
8 - 9 oz wide egg noodles
2 can cream of chicken soup
4 1/2 cups milk (I use skim and it turns out great)
1 cup frozen peas (optional)

In a large stockpot melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook onion in butter till soft, add carrots and cook a little longer. Add potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are almost done. Add bouillon cubes and salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken, noodles, milk, and 2 cans of cream of chicken. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until noodles are done. Add peas and cook another few minutes.

*Tends to thicken up upon cooling. You can thin with more milk to get to a desired consistency - we like it pretty thick so I don't usually thin it, but if you add more milk or broth you can make it into a creamy chicken noodle soup.

No Peek Beef

We had this last night and it was yummy. I got the recipe from Mommy's Kitchen, though I did alter it slightly. Everyone was happy with it especially since we had my sister's bread with it (some kind of bread is a great incentive for my children to eat their dinners happily).


No Peek Beef

2 lbs beef eye of round or chuck roast, cut into small cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I think I will add 2 cans next time)
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
small can mushrooms (optional, I didn't add mushrooms this time)

Mix ingredients together and pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours, do not remove foil until it is done. Serve over noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.

*I bet this would be a great crockpot recipe also.

Julie's White Bread

This is my sister's white bread recipe and I think it's awesome!! Seriously the easiest bread I've ever made and it comes out fluffy and delicious (as all white bread should be:)). Great food storage recipe too as it has no eggs or butter in it (it does have lecithin in it though so I guess you have to be sure to store a big bottle of that). You can buy liquid or powdered lecithin in most natural food markets - I found a large bottle at Sprouts.


Julie's White Bread
-This recipe makes 2 loaves, I make it in my Kitchen Aid, but apparently if you have a Bosch mixer you can double this recipe to make 4 loaves.

5 1/4 - 5 1/2 cups white bread flour*
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 rounded tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons lecithin (or 1/6 cup oil - I've only made it with lecithin)
2 cups hot tap water

Pour ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix for 1 minute with the dough hook. Check consistency and add more flour if too wet and more water if too dry. Mix for 5 minutes. Do not add flour or water after it is through mixing. Spray your counter or a surface with cooking spray. Turn dough onto sprayed surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Shape each 1/2 into a loaf and place in greased loaf pans. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for 25 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on a rack. Wasn't that easy!:)


*To make with whole wheat flour add 1/2 cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water and mix for 10 minutes instead of 5.

Sliders

This is a fun Pampered Chef recipe that I made last night and everyone liked it, especially my hubby. Who can resist a cute little mini cheeseburger?! And even better they were super easy.

Sliders

1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs 90% lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
6 sliced American cheese (each slice cut in quarters to make 24 small squares)
8 hot dog buns
24 dill pickle slices

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together: onion, beef, parsley, garlic, and salt. Press beef evenly over the bottom of the stoneware jelly roll pan or another jelly roll pan/cookie sheet with sides that you have. Bake for 12 minutes or until beef is no longer pink.

While beef is cooking, separate hot dog buns at seams then trim off the ends and cut each bun into 3 equal pieces leaving the top and bottoms together. Set Aside.

When beef is cooked through remove pan from oven and with 2 spatulas remove the beef in one piece from the pan and place on a cutting board. Drain fat from pan and wipe pan clean with a paper towel (obviously be careful, that stoneware gets hot!). Cut beef into 24 equal squares (that 6 rows with 4 squares each) and place squares back onto pan. Place a pickle and piece of cheese on each patty, then put a top bun on each patty followed by the matching bottom bun so its a stack in this order: patty, pickle, cheese, top bun, matching bottom bun. Cover the whole pan with foil and put back in oven for 5 minutes (until cheese is melted). Place bottom buns on the bottom of the patties and you're ready to serve.

Nutrition Info:
Each slider has 110 calories, 5 grams of fat (3 grams sat. fat), 22.5 mg cholesterol, 7.5 g carbs, and 8.5 g protein.

*This would also be a super easy way to make normal hamburgers, just cut the meat into bigger patties when it is cooked through and use normal hamburger buns in the place of the cut up hot dog buns. (Also a couple more pickles on each meat patty.)